Chinese club claim talks with Lampard

Chinese Super League club Guizhou Rehne say they are in talks to sign Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.

Lampard, 34, is out of contract at Stamford Bridge this summer and, with the Blues having a policy of offering only one-year deals to players over 30, has been linked with a move to either China or the MLS.

Officials at Guizhou Rehne say they are negotiating with Lampard, and reports in China claim he has been offered £250,000 a week to make the move in January.

"Yes, we are in contact with Lampard but so far nothing has been settled," the club's deputy board chairman, Yang Xiayou, said, while chairman Dai Yongge was reported as saying that Lampard would join at the start of next year, with the Chinese season beginning in March.

Earlier in the year, the Sun newspaper reported the Guizhou chairman Wang Guolin as saying: "I want the best team in China, and we are prepared to invest a lot of money to bring Lampard to us."

ESPN has contacted the China connection who is putting the deal together and the source confirmed: "Lampard is a top target but so too are other top players, although not from England."

The source added that no deal has yet been struck as, ideally, Lampard wishes to remain at Chelsea, but talks are ongoing.